Continuity
by Peonywinx
Summary: Based on the episode Future Harper. H.J. Darling didn't tell them the whole truth - because the whole truth is too terrible, too sad, too explosive. If she'd said anything, she could have completely changed their continuity. Unfortunately, when Justin, Alex, and Max surmise that something is deadly wrong with the future, they are determined to fix it - no matter the cost.
1. Someone Stole Our Stories

**_A/N: Yes, yes, I know it's been quite a while since the show ended, and even longer since the actual Future Harper episode - but when the muse leads, I follow. So, welcome to this story exploring a possible reason for H.J. Darling to come back from the future, because I felt that episode could have had so much more potential had not the show been focused mainly on comedy. It takes one or two chapters for this story to really get off the ground, because of the grounding in the actual episode that I found necessary to write. So, this chapter is mainly a rehash of what happened in Future Harper, but it'__s just a set-up, promise._  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own** _Wizards of Waverly Place**,**_**and I especially do not own the dialogue lines lifted directly from the show.**

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**Chapter I  
Someone Stole Our Stories**

"Did she steal our stories?"

"Wait." Justin turned the page of _Charmed and Dangerous: The Story of the Lost Wand _and read through it with speed that only an overwhelming desire to learn and years and years of near-constant practice could achieve.

Alex asked again, "Did she steal our stories?"

"Wait." He turned another page; he didn't even have to read the entire page to confirm what they already suspected and he snapped the book shut, shoving it at Alex. "She stole our stories!"

"I knew it!" Alex exclaimed indignantly. "Our stories are making this lady rich." She waved the book for emphasis.

"And famous," Harper added.

"And famous!" Justin shot to his feet. "There's a crazy ten-minute sale, the kids get stuck in a movie, the brother turns invisible, and they pour orange soda into a genie's lamp." It was unnerving how H.J. Darling knew so much about all their adventures that she could write about them with such detail.

"All right, we've got our evidence," said Alex. "Angry mob assemble!"

"I always figured that I'd be the one to make a living writing wizard stories based on our adventures," Justin mused. "Except my main character's name would be Serge, he'd walk around carrying a bejeweled cane and wear an eye patch." He grinned as he imagined it. In his mind's eye he saw his name – Justin V.P. Russo – emblazoned in elegant font across the front cover of a bestselling book.

Alex, however, was less than impressed. "What, no British accent?" she scoffed.

Justin took a second to visualize that. "Why, that's a smashing idea," he said in a very thick British accent. "Thanks, luv."

Harper, sitting next to Alex on the armchair, appeared to be totally enraptured by his accent. "Hot," she sighed appreciatively.

Then Max asked, "Guys, how do you think she knows all this stuff about us?"

It was a valid point, and Justin could have kicked himself for not wondering about that sooner because he was too caught up in his author daydream.

Oh, well. That little lapse in judgment aside, he could still take charge of the situation. "All right, we've got to find her and tell her to stop."

"Oh, I know where she lives!" Harper interjected. "In an abandoned paint-your-dish warehouse in upstate New York."

"Whoa, wait, Harper," Max cut in. "How do you know she lives in an abandoned paint-your-dish warehouse?"

"I had my mom's private investigator track her down."

_Mental note to self, _thought Justin, _never get on Harper's bad side._

While Harper assured Alex that her dad's suspected infidelity was just him sleeping in his car, Justin decided on a course of action. Springing up, he declared, "Quick, to the Inter-Wizard People Porter – or as Dad likes to call it, the IPP."

Some mechanical grinding and whirring – and a lot of IPP-related humor from Max – later, the three Russo siblings sans Harper (who had excused herself on account of having to teach scrapbooking to at-risk youths) found themselves in H.J. Darling's residence.

Justin landed none too gently. "Ow, ow! My ankle!" He experimentally stood up, smiling with relief. "I'm okay." He took a step and immediately a stab of pain shot through his ankle, causing him to stumble. "No, I'm not." His gaze landed on a cane nestled among a bunch of umbrellas. Figuring that H.J. Darling wouldn't mind, he pulled it out and used it to help him to walk.

Max, meanwhile, was holding a plain white plate and looked up, as if suddenly struck by a revelation. "Oh, can we paint a plate while we're here?" He sounded absurdly hopeful.

"Max, I just twisted my ankle." _Have some sympathy!_

"Will you two focus?" Alex said. "We are on a mission to find H.J. Darling."

As if on cue, a red-headed woman wandered into the room, holding a salmon-colored book and speaking to someone they couldn't see. "Okay, Ricky! Good scrapbooking! Nice use of vinegar to make the pages look old. Stay off the streets!" She gazed at the book in her hands and smiled fondly. "Good kid. Oh, I hope he makes it."

Then she glanced up and saw the Russos, and her expression changed to a mixture of shock and horror, her eyes widening as she gasped. "Alex! Max! Justin!" Realizing her mistake almost at once, she amended quickly, "I mean – who are you people?"

Her hasty correction was utterly unsuccessful. She clearly knew exactly who they were.

_Well, that's odd. _Justin frowned.

"No…" Alex eyed the woman up and down. "The question is: who are you? And if the answer is H.J. Darling then my new question is: why are you stealing our stories?"

"Actually," Justin interjected, "the better question would be: _how _is she stealing our stories?"

H.J. Darling chuckled nervously. "That's an excellent new question. Um…look, why don't we sit down…and…and talk about it, okay? Um…uh…uh…I'll make snacks."

"Do you have any sugar cubes drenched in honey?" Max asked.

"Boy salad?" H.J. Darling deduced.

Max looked amazed. "That's what I call it!"

"How do you know that?" Justin demanded. Stealing their stories was one thing – intimate knowledge of Max's abnormal (and unwholesomely sweet) favorite snack was another, much more disturbing thing.

Alex, apparently, had also caught on to the fact that H.J. Darling was far too well-informed than should be normal. "Okay, enough of the snacks," she said. "What are you? A wizard? Or are you just someone who likes to wear aquariums?" This last was said with a pointed glance at the fishbowl H.J. Darling had been using as a hat.

While H.J. Darling was fumbling for a response, Justin noticed that there was a sheet of paper tucked into the typewriter on the table. "You're in the middle of one of your stories right now," he said accusingly, limping over to the typewriter with his borrowed cane to yank the paper out. The corner of the sheet struck him in his left eye as it came free. Max caught the paper as Justin dropped it to exclaim, "My cornea!"

"What is this?" the youngest Russo questioned, reading the page. "Flour, eggs, milk…" He looked up in disbelief. "This is the worst story ever!"

Alex snorted. "Give me that!" She snatched the paper from his hand and turned to face H.J. Darling. "What is going on? Why are you writing about our lives?"

"Um…"

"Alex, hang on." Although Justin's left eye was injured, his right eye was functioning normally and had noticed the writing on the other side of the paper Alex was holding. "There's something written on the other side."

"What?" Alex looked down at the page and turned it over.

"No, don't read that!" H.J. Darling tried to grab the sheet, but Alex sidestepped her and dashed behind the table.

"'Instructions for living in the past'," Alex read. "'One: do not tell anyone who you are. Two: especially not yourself. Three: avoid Alex, Max, and Justin at all costs.'" She glanced up, confused. "What?"

"Alex, let me see that." Justin held his hand out for the page.

Alex made to give her brother the paper, but had to jerk it out of H.J. Darling's sudden desperate swipe for it. "Wh–hey!"

"I am begging you, don't read that!" H.J. Darling pleaded. "Do you want me to get down on my knees? I'll get down on my knees. Look." And she knelt on the ground. "See? I'm on my knees. Just don't read that page, please!"

"Sorry," said Justin, "but we need to find out what's going on." Ignoring H.J. Darling's protests, he took the paper from Alex and scanned through the rest of the page with his good eye. "'Do not go to Waverly Sub Station…do not talk about wizards or magic…do not say anything about the future' – you're from the future?" he accused.

H.J. Darling looked extremely anxious. "Yes," she admitted.

"Wait," said Max, "if you're from the future…how many fingers am I holding up?"

H.J. Darling glanced at his hand. "Two."

Max gasped and backed away. "Oh my gosh, you _are _from the future! Okay, nobody touch anything. If we do we could totally disrupt things for when we return to our own time."

Justin rolled his eye. "We're _in _our own time. She came _back_ from the future."

"Right," Max agreed. After a beat, he said, "I don't get it."

"Okay, who _are_ you?" Alex demanded. "Why did you come back from the future? Why are you writing stories about us? And how do you know so much about us in the first place?"

H.J. Darling bit her lip. "I really shouldn't say a lot about the future, because it could change the future."

"See?" Max exclaimed, springing to his feet. When his siblings stared at him incredulously, he backed down sheepishly. "I just wanted to be right about something." They were still looking at him strangely, so he cast about for something to distract them. "Hey, those look like plates Harper would paint."

Justin and Alex turned to look at the row of plates on a countertop. They were all painted the same way, purple with a rainbow…and with Justin's face in the center.

"Huh," Alex commented. "They really do look like something Harper would make."

A sudden suspicion began to form in Justin's mind. "Wait a minute." He flipped the page he was still holding back around to the list of ingredients Max had proclaimed to be 'the worst story ever'. "This is a recipe for Harper's snickerdoodles with Red Hots!"

"So you're not just stealing our stories," Alex accused H.J. Darling. "You're stealing recipes too!"

"No, wait," Justin interjected. He had a look of intense concentration on his face. "Paint-a-plate, scrapbooking, snickerdoodles with Red Hots…that's all stuff Harper does!"

Alex gasped in theatric horror. "So you're stealing Harper's life too!"

"Alex." Justin's voice sounded strangely strangled. "She isn't stealing Harper's life." He stared at H.J. Darling as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "She _is _Harper. Harper from the future."

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_**A/N: Again, I promise this is only a (necessary) set-up for the rest of the story. The original(ish) stuff will come soon, starting with my next update tomorrow.**_

_**Reviews are love!**_


	2. You Don't Want To Know

_**A/N: The only reason I know people are actually reading this story is because I have emails telling me people have favorited or subscribed. Reviews would be nice too, of course - but I'm not doing this for people, am I? I'm posting for myself because I want to share my story. So, thanks to **Phantomxx, vlalita,** and **Queen Queen of Nerdingham** for favoriting/subscribing - and if you feel llike writing a review on this chapter, great! Otherwise, rest assured I'll still post and you may still read on.**  
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**Disclaimer: I still don't own the dialogue from the show, or the characters, or the show itself.**

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**Chapter II  
You Don't Want to Know**

Following Justin's startling deduction, an uneasy quiet settled over H.J. Darling's living room. The author in question, who was sitting silently and worriedly on the couch, had neither denied nor confirmed Justin's suspicion, but it was a technicality at this point, as all three Russos had agreed that she was definitely Harper from the future. Max was amusing himself by looking at all the painted plates, seemingly oblivious to the implications of future Harper's presence, while Justin and Alex were staring at H.J. Darling.

"Are you really Harper from the future?" Alex asked finally.

H.J. Darling exhaled. "Yes," she admitted. "Yes, I'm Harper from the future."

There was the sound of a plate breaking, and everyone turned to see Max standing sheepishly over the broken remains of one of the Justin plates. "That broke on its own."

His siblings groaned. "Max," Justin moaned.

"It's okay, Max," said H.J. Darling. "I have plenty of those."

Max grinned. "Thanks, Harper. You know, I've always liked you."

Justin rolled his eyes – then grimaced in pain as his injured left eye throbbed. "Ow!" He quickly squeezed it shut again.

"Hey, what's wrong with your eye, weirdo?" Max asked.

"I scratched my cornea when I yanked the paper out of the typewriter. I have to keep it closed."

Alex snorted. "Well, you look ridiculous."

"Thanks," Justin said sarcastically. "Hang on…" He thought for a while, then drew out his wand. _"Something hit me in the eye, make a patch so I don't die." _He waved his wand, and a black eye patch appeared over his left eye. "That's better," he said, looking pleased with himself.

Alex snorted again. "If you say so…Serge."

"Serge?" Justin caught sight of his reflection in a mirror and stared. "Oh my gosh! I've turned into Serge! How cool is that?"

H.J. Darling didn't seem to think it was very cool at all. She had gone quite pale, and was staring at Justin in horror, as if she expected him to drop dead any second. Max was absolutely thrilled.

"Cool! You can change the color of your face? Wicked!"

"Harper, what's wrong?" Alex asked in concern.

H.J. Darling shivered, then shook her head. "Nothing," she said weakly. "It's just that…with the cane and the eye patch…Justin reminds me of someone from the future."

"You know what I don't get?" Max asked, before Alex could press further, "if you're from the future, why did you come back here to write about us?"

H.J. Darling looked to glad to have something she could explain. "In the future, everybody knows wizards exist, so it's really not that big of a deal. It's much more interesting for people to read about wizards in this time period."

"So how come people know about wizards in the future?" Justin inquired.

"Again, I have to be careful what I say about the future." H.J. Darling was deliberately not looking at Justin. "But…wizards got exposed because someone in this room has a big, big mouth. I'm not gonna name names."

Justin whacked the back of Max's shoulder. "Way to go."

"She said she wasn't naming names!" Max protested. Then he sighed. "But I know it's me."

"Hold on," said Alex. "If you're mortal, how can you travel back in time?"

"I cannot stress enough the danger we're in by even talking about this!" There was a note of dread in H.J. Darling's voice. "But, I will admit that I had help from one of the most powerful wizards of all time."

"Me? Me?" Justin inquired excitedly. "Is it me? Did I win the competition?"

"I have to put my foot down," H.J. Darling said firmly, even as a flash of sorrow passed her eyes. "I've said too much already." She turned to Alex with a warm smile. "But it is so good to see you again, Alex. Look at you – so young!"

"Are you saying I get _old _in the future?" Alex demanded. "This just gets better and better." She looked at H.J. Darling – it was so hard to believe that this was her best friend. "Do you know what I want to know? Did I ever give you permission – to use my stories to become rich and famous?"

Something unreadable crossed the future Harper's expression; Justin noted that and wondered about it. "Well, no," she admitted quietly.

"Then why'd you do it?"

"The secrets you told me were so fascinating."

"They were secrets," Alex said. "Secrets are secrets. That's why they call them secrets, not books."

"I know, I know!" H.J. Darling was looking extremely uncomfortable – and also inexplicably weary – by now. "And I would've got your permission if I could, Alex – but I didn't think I'd be writing about your adventures when I came back from the future."

"So what? _Now _you want my permission to –" Alex broke off abruptly. "Hang on – you said you came back from the future _to _write books about us, because the stories would be more interesting here. What do you mean you didn't know you'd be writing about us when you came here?"

"I…I…" H.J. Darling stammered. "I just…I…"

"What's really going on here?" Justin questioned. "If you didn't come back to write the _Charmed and Dangerous _books, why did you come back? What are you not telling us?"

"I – I – I can't tell you," H.J. Darling cried desperately, looking as though she might burst into tears. "I wish I could, but I can't, and – and…oh, this is such a mess!"

"You're writing books about our lives!" Alex shot at her. "Without my permission! I think we deserve to know why."

"I didn't mean to use it to become rich and famous, I swear," H.J. Darling said entreatingly. "I came back to this time period, and I was just so lonely and sad…and then I remembered all the stories you told me…and then I just started writing."

"Why were you lonely and sad?" Justin demanded. "Harper, _why did you come back_?"

"You don't want to know."

"Harper!" Alex almost screamed in frustration.

"I'm serious!" H.J. Darling exclaimed. "Trust me – you don't want to know. Look, the future…it's not a very nice place, all right?"

"Why not?" Max queried.

H.J. Darling sighed. "I can't tell you."

"It's _our _future!" Justin exclaimed, outraged.

"Exactly!" H.J. Darling shouted. "It's _your _future. And I cannot, under any circumstances, reveal any of it – even though I would love to if it meant we could change the future – but I can't!"

Alex plopped herself down in an armchair. "Well, Harper, I'm not moving until you at least tell me what's so bad about the future."

"She's right," Max piped up unexpectedly. "You can't tell us our future isn't good and then expect us to leave it at that. If I knew my future was bad – and I do – I'd want to know about it, so I can change it."

H.J. Darling exhaled. "You can't change it. That would create a paradox, and it might make things even worse. Although to be honest, I don't know how they could get much worse."

"Harper, what is going on?" Alex asked insistently. She made her way to the future version and sat down next to her on the couch. Her expression softened as she reached for future Harper's hand. "Come on. You can tell me. I'm your best friend. Whatever it is that makes the future bad, we can avoid it."

H.J. Darling's eyes welled with tears, much to Alex's surprise and concern. "Maybe that's true," she conceded. "But maybe it isn't. And I can't risk that. Because something terrible happens sometime in the future – something that changes everything – and if I tell you about it now you'll have to deal with the burden of knowing what's coming."

"Something terrible happens?" Justin was immediately alarmed. "What happens?"

"I can't tell you," H.J. Darling repeated, almost desperately.

"Is it our family?" Justin demanded urgently. "Does something happen to our family? Were we stripped of our powers because Max revealed wizards? Or did he reveal wizards because we were stripped of our powers? Is there a huge argument that splits us apart? Harper, tell me!"

"I can't!" H.J. Darling burst out, crying. "I'm sorry, I can't…I can't risk making things worse…I promised…"

"_Whom _did you promise?"

"You!"

Justin reeled back like he'd been shot. "What?"

"I promised you – future you – that I wouldn't tell you anything."

"But, Harper," said Justin, "it's _me. _If the future really is so terrible, wouldn't I want to know about it so I can save my family?"

"No," she sobbed. "You told me not to go to the past – you didn't want to change anything." She sniffed. "You made me promise I wouldn't try to change the future."

"Why would he…" Justin corrected himself, "Why would _I _tell you not to change the past? If it saves my family…"

H.J. Darling sighed. "Like I said, the future isn't great. You changed, Justin. We all did. We had to – with the war and all…"

"War?" all three Russos echoed in shock. Too late, H.J. Darling gasped and clapped her mouth shut, realizing her mistake.

"What war?" Alex demanded.

But H.J. Darling pressed her hand tighter over her mouth and shook her head forcefully, eyes wide.

"Harper, you've told us this much," Justin said, managing to keep his tumultuous emotions from showing in his voice. "Just tell us about the war. It can't do much damage at this point."

"Mm-mm!" H.J. Darling refused. "Mm-hm! Mm-hmm-hm-mm-hmm –"

"Harper, take your hand off your mouth," Alex instructed.

The author removed her hand. "You're wrong," she told Justin. "The more I tell you, the more dangerous it is – even the littlest bit. I've said way too much already. I absolutely cannot say a single thing more."

"Wait," Max said slowly, looking rather scared, "do we all die? Is that the terrible thing that happens? Our whole family dies?"

Alex and Justin whipped their heads around to gaze at H.J. Darling, silently begging her to tell them this one answer.

"No," H.J. Darling relented. "You don't all die."

"Oh, whew." Max looked relieved. "That's good, then."

Alex and Justin exchanged glances.

H.J. Darling stood up. "I think you guys had better go. I'm happy to see you, but it would not be a good idea for you to stay here any longer. You have to go."

Ignoring their furious protests, she began ushering them out of the door – but before she could, a bright, white-grey swirl materialized in the middle of the living room. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished, leaving behind a single, solitary wizard who looked a lot like…

"Justin!" H.J. Darling gasped.

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_**A/N: NOW we're getting somewhere! We have officially reached the fork in the road, the point at which this story takes a different turn from the original episode. Stay tuned for tomorrow's chapter! **_


	3. We Can't Change The Future

_**A/N: Ooh, look, a review! Thanks to** vlalita **for writing back to me.**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own** _Wizards of Waverly Place**.**_

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**Chapter III  
We Can't Change The Future**

Everyone stared incredulously at the man standing in the middle of H.J. Darling's living room. The future Justin was clearly much older, much more world-weary, much more – there was no other word for it – grizzled. Not only did he appear far more serious and angry than his younger self, but there were even visible grey hairs mixed in with the black on his head. His face was weathered, his bearing jaded – his skin was marked by numerous scars from countless injuries. However, the most unsettling thing about him was the well-worn black patch covering his left eye and the unembellished black cane clutched in his right hand – these, Alex could tell, were not temporary, somewhat comical-looking props like those her Justin was using now. These were horrifyingly real, actually required by future Justin, as evidenced by the obvious limp in his right leg and the angry scar around his left eye that the eye patch only partly concealed – and they spoke clearly of the horrors of the future.

'Not great' was an understatement.

Future Justin glanced perfunctorily around the room with his good eye before fixating his gaze on H.J. Darling. Alex couldn't help but shudder at the coldness in his eye – she had never seen such a stony glint in her elder brother's eyes before, and she never wanted to again.

"I thought," Future Justin said – and his voice was deep and ireful – "I specifically told you not to go back in time."

"I know," gasped H.J. Darling. "I know, and I'm sorry, but I couldn't…I just couldn't…"

"And I thought," Future Justin continued, "that I also specifically told you not to try to change the future."

"I didn't! I wasn't trying! Um…" H.J. Darling glanced guiltily at the three young Russos. "I mean, I know this looks bad – but I swear I didn't call them or make contact with them or anything! They came to me!"

Future Justin scowled. "_They _came to _you_?" He advanced towards her almost threateningly. "Harper, what did you do?" His voice was dark and dangerous.

"Nothing! I just wrote some books…"

"What books?" he demanded.

"About your adventures – but it's nothing they haven't already done, I was very careful about that…"

"Harper!" Future Justin's tone was sharp, cutting. H.J. Darling flinched. "You wrote about our adventures? In this time period? You may as well have been waving a wand and casting magic spells. You drew their attention to you!"

"I didn't mean to!" H.J. Darling cried. "I wasn't thinking!"

"Clearly," Future Justin said coldly.

Alex had had enough. "Hey!" She moved to stand beside H.J. Darling. "Back off," she warned. "You don't get to speak that way to Harper." She threw a glance at the younger Justin, who was gaping dumbfounded at his older counterpart. "You know, Justin, older you is a real jerk."

Future Justin, meanwhile, was staring hard at Alex, as if he had just noticed her for the first time. There was a peculiar expression on his scarred face – an odd mixture of longing, grief, rage, concern, and an indescribable, oxymoronically sad joy – and a deeply haunted gleam in his un-patched eye.

"What?" Alex demanded, unnerved by her older brother's scrutiny. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?" she asked H.J. Darling, who mutely shook her head no.

"Well, you have a…thing sticking out of the middle of your face," Max spoke up. "Oh, wait – that's your nose." He chuckled awkwardly. "My bad."

Rolling her eyes, Alex whirled back to find that Future Justin was still watching her. "Dude, cut it out!" she ordered. "You're starting to seriously creep me out. Like, more than usual." She inspected him more closely, trying to estimate his age. "Especially since you're, what – twenty years older?"

"Ten," Future Justin corrected.

"Ten years, huh? You look old for twenty-eight." He was still gazing at her. Alex frowned. "Quit it!"

Apparently with some difficulty, Future Justin tore his eye away from Alex to look at H.J. Darling. Much of the animosity and harshness had now gone out of his expression, and when he addressed the future Harper his tone was somewhat gentler, and also oddly more tremulous. "What did you tell them?"

"Um…I may have let slip about the fact that someone revealed wizards, and about the war…"

Future Justin groaned and may or may not have uttered a brief cuss word that made present Justin's eyes go wide. "Harper!" he admonished.

Justin, afraid his future self was going to castigate H.J. Darling again (to be honest, he was quite scared by the choleric, bitter person he was apparently going to become – he did not like it at all), quickly interjected, "It wasn't her fault. We made her tell us." Future Justin turned towards him, his eye boring into his younger self's. He looked somewhat taken aback to see that Justin also had an eye patch and a cane.

"You made her tell you." There was something indecipherably heavy in his tone.

"Yes." Justin bravely faced up to his older self's penetrating gaze. He refused to be intimidated by himself. "Don't look at me like that – you would have done the same thing if you found out something terrible was going to happen to your family in the future. Right?" he added, suddenly uncertain if this future version loved his family as much as he did.

Future Justin sighed wearily, seeming to deflate in surrender. "I know. I'm not mad," he assured them. "Not anymore. How did you even get here, anyway?" He glanced back at H.J. Darling, his lone eye suddenly narrowing in deadly suspicion. "Was it Uncle Kelbo? Did you talk him into helping you come back? This is just the sort of hare-brained thing he would agree to…"

"Max."

"What?" Max responded.

Future Justin, however, understood exactly what H.J. Darling had said, and some of his anger returned. "Max," he grumbled.

"WHAT?" Max said again.

"Of course it was Max," said Future Justin. "I should have known. So since I refused to help, you ran to my little brother instead?"

"Max understood that I needed to escape," H.J. Darling said defiantly. "He knew I couldn't stand to stay in the future anymore. So he agreed to cast the spell."

"Of course he did," Future Justin ground out. "He wants to change the future!"

"Wouldn't you?" H.J. Darling flung at him.

"You know I would, but we can't!"

"Why not?" she demanded.

"We might make things worse! Everyone's suffered, but we finally ended the war! What if we go back and change everything?"

"Well, for starters, the war might not even happen," H.J. Darling said.

"Or it might never end," Future Justin countered. "We can't risk it! The danger is too great! We could end up creating even more terrible things."

"It's not like the future could get much more terrible!" H.J. Darling flared. Alex had never seen her best friend this angry; the fact that her anger was directed at Justin, no matter how much of a jerk he'd become, was so bizarre it was frightening. "Terribler, I mean. No, it's 'more terrible'. Oh, darn, I just ruined a perfectly good righteous anger moment!"

Future Justin eyed her coldly. "Max has always wanted to change the future. He doesn't understand the calamity it could cause. You shouldn't have influenced him!"

"Hey!" Alex interrupted. "What did I say about talking to Harper like that?"

Neither of the future people paid any attention to her.

"I did no such thing!" H.J. Darling denied hotly. "He agreed to send me back in time for _me_, not to change the future. He desperately wants to, you know he does – but do you know what he told me before I left?"

"'Find our younger selves and tell them everything that's going to happen'?" Future Justin asked acidly.

"No! He said don't do anything to change the future! He said, 'If Justin says not to, don't.' He wants to change the future, but he warned me not to because you said so!"

Future Justin paused, blinking. "He…" He swallowed. "Max said that?"

"I said what?" Max demanded.

"Yes," H.J. Darling said emphatically. "He looks up to you, Justin – he'd never do something if you said we couldn't, no matter how much he wants to."

"Okay, stop!" young Justin said forcefully. "Rewind! Will someone please explain what the heck is going on here? What is this war? Why don't you want to change the future?" he questioned of Future Justin. "And if I won the wizard competition, how does Max still have magic in the future?"

"And where am _I _in all of this?" Alex wanted to know. "All I hear is Justin, Max, Harper – where's future me?"

"Is the Sub Station still around?" Max asked urgently, causing them all to stare at him disbelievingly. "I thought we were asking random questions," was his explanation.

No one spoke for what seemed like ages. Then, finally, Future Justin said, "I think you three should go home."

Instantly there was an uproar from the three siblings.

"No way!" Max cried.

"We're not leaving without answers," Alex insisted stubbornly.

"I need to know what happens in the future!" Justin exclaimed.

Future Justin waved his wand. _"Jerry and Theresa should not be alone, magic take the three young Russos home."_

H.J. Darling's living room vanished before their eyes, and Justin, Alex, and Max found themselves back in the lair behind the Waverly Sub Station.

"He spelled us home!" Alex exclaimed indignantly. "We _so _need to change the future, Justin – because I swear I'll kill you if you ever become such a jerk."

"Please do." Justin tore off his eye patch and tossed his cane away; he wanted nothing similar to Future Justin anywhere on him.

"So what do we do now?" Max asked.

"We have to find a way to get them to tell us what happened," Justin declared. "I don't know why I'm so bitter in the future, but I don't want to find out."

Alex raised her eyebrow. "Isn't that sort of contradictory?"

Justin groaned. "You know what I mean. I don't want to live through whatever it is that turns me into Serge." His voice was steel resolve. "Serge has to die."

"Okay, fine," Alex agreed. "What's the plan?"

"I don't know yet. I'll think of something."

"Well, think fast. For all we know future you is going to take Harper back to the future, and we'll never get to talk to them again."

Justin sighed. "I know."

"Well," Max said after a beat, "look on the bright side. You have lots of dramatic stuff to write about in your books about wizards."

* * *

_**A/N: The drama's just getting started, people! **_

_**Reviews, of course, are most welcome (what author doesn't want 'em?)**_


	4. We Need To Know

_**A/N: Oh, yay! Two reviews! Thanks,** Queen Queen of Nerdingham **and **vlalita**!**_

_**This chapter is half rehash of the episode and half (sort of) original. This is the last chapter which will directly play off the events of the actual episode.**_

**Disclaimer: My owenership status - or lack thereof - of **_Wizards of Waverly Place_ **hasn't changed from yesterday.**

* * *

**Chapter IV  
We Need To Know**

The next few days passed in a flurry of activity. Between school, magic lessons, running the Sub Station, Justin's injured eye and ankle giving him visual and mobility problems, and Jerry, Theresa, and Max suddenly coming down with nasty colds – forcing Justin and Alex to handle their shifts at the Sub Station as well as their own – the siblings hardly had time to think about the foreboding future, let alone do anything about it. Nonetheless, the thought of H.J. Darling and Future Justin was never far, lurking in the back of their minds. Furthermore, the one time they managed to use the IPP to return to the paint-your-dish warehouse, H.J. Darling had gone – they could only assume that Future Justin had taken her back to the future.

Harper couldn't understand why Alex was suddenly giving her the cold shoulder. She cornered Alex in school by their lockers the day after their visit to the paint-your-dish warehouse.

"Alex, I called you ten times last night. How'd it go with H.J. Darling?"

"Oh, I think you know how it went." Alex glared at her. "Or, maybe you don't, but you will. Then you'll know why I didn't call you back."

Harper was bewildered. "You're upset with me?"

"Oh, so you do know."

"No." Harper was genuinely puzzled. "What did I do?"

Alex almost told her, but then H.J. Darling's voice echoed in her head. _"I really shouldn't say a lot about the future, because it could change the future." _While changing the future was quite an appealing prospect, given what they knew – or didn't know – about it, Alex knew she couldn't risk making things worse by cluing Harper in without knowing exactly what she wanted to change.

"I can't tell you," she confessed. "But it's not what you did do. It's what you will do."

Harper scoffed. "Whatever you think I'm gonna do, I guess I'm sorry for it."

"No, I don't think you are, or you wouldn't do it."

"I don't even know what I'm going to do!" Harper objected.

"Not yet," agreed Alex, "but you will."

"Hey," interrupted Justin, limping over to the two quarreling friends. "What's going on?"

"You know what?" said Harper. "If you're gonna be mad at me and not tell me why you're mad at me, then I'm gonna be mad at you and not tell you why I'm mad at you." She scowled. "Oh, shoot, I just told you why. Now I'm mad at both of us!" She stomped off, flowerpot hairband bobbing.

Justin turned to Alex. "Aren't you gonna go after her?" he demanded.

"No." She noticed the odd contraption Justin had around his eyes. "What is up with your sunglasses?"

"It's filtered-light therapy for my injured eye."

"It's a pair of Mom's sunglasses with a lens knocked out."

Justin paused. "Don't tell her."

Alex snorted and marched back to her locker. Justin followed after her.

"Are you gonna tell me what that was about?"

"Nope."

"Alex." Justin made her turn around to face him. "You can't do this. You can't argue with Harper about something she's going to do in the future."

"Why not?" Alex queried.

"Because if you let something she hasn't done yet affect your friendship, it could change the future. It might even make it worse than it already is!"

"This isn't about the future, Justin. This is about Harper using our stories to become rich and famous without my permission."

"So give her permission. You heard H.J. Darling – if she could've got your permission, she would've."

"But she didn't," Alex countered. "Is it so hard to drop by before leaving for the past and saying, 'Oh, hey, Alex – I'm going to the past now, do you mind if I decide to write stories about your adventures?'"

"We don't know what happened in the future," Justin stressed. "Maybe she couldn't meet you before she left. You can't hold it against her. Alex, you have to give her permission."

"You can't give permission to someone you can't trust, and I can't trust her because she went ahead and wrote those books without my permission."

"Look, if this about the books, I've read them, and they're really good," said Justin. "They're not just about us as wizards – they're about your friendship with Harper."

"Well, I don't care about our friendship," Alex insisted. "I told her secrets. She betrayed me, so our friendship's over."

"All right. But you're missing out on the part where you and Harper are getting chased by a dinosaur, and Harper uses her knitting skills to repair a rope bridge and you get away."

"Ooh," Alex mocked. "An adventure about knitting. Pass."

Justin exhaled in exasperation. "Fine. Don't read any of the stories about the great times you and Harper have in the future." He lowered his voice. "But you have to be careful what you do around Harper. We can't risk changing anything until we know exactly what it is we're changing."

Then he walked away – but, whether by accident or on purpose (Alex was willing to bet it was the latter), the _Charmed and Dangerous _book he'd been carrying was left on the bench. Alex stared at the book, deliberating. Then she sighed and bent down to pick it up, much to the amazement of her peers. A collective gasp of shock rippled through the corridor, and someone incredulously said, "Alex Russo has a _book_?"

Alex glared at the girl. "Oh, I can hear you!" She stalked off, carrying the book.

Over the next few days, whenever her enormously hectic schedule permitted, Alex read _Charmed and Dangerous _in her rare snatches of free time. It was probably the first time she had willingly read something since she was eight – and as she read more, she had to admit that Justin was right. A major theme of the book was her character, Julia's, friendship with Harper. Alex found herself warming to the _Charmed and Dangerous _books – the stories were witty, engaging, and well-written – she never knew Harper had so much talent.

It took her almost a week to finish _The Story of the Lost Wand_; once she had, she marched up to Justin's room and flung open the door without knocking. "You," she accused, "are a liar."

Justin looked up from his homework, filtered-light therapy thankfully absent (his eye had finally healed), nonplussed. "What?"

In response, Alex held up _Charmed and Dangerous_. "You said this book would have dinosaurs and knitting, and it doesn't."

Justin smiled. "So you read it."

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Alex scoffed. "Liar."

"In order to get you to read the book, I had to lie to you about what was in the book," Justin explained.

"Well, fine," Alex conceded. "And you know what? You were right. It is a good book." She exhaled. "I didn't realize, now that Harper knows the secret that I'm a wizard, that there's all these adventures we're gonna take together."

"Max and I are in that book too," Justin reminded her.

"Yeah…I skipped to the parts with my character Julia. The rest was just blah, blah, blah."

Justin bobbed his head in acknowledgment. Typical Alex. "So, you should give Harper permission to write the books, so you two can stay friends."

"I guess." Alex sank herself onto Justin's bed. "So do you have a plan yet?"

"Sort of." Justin closed his textbook. "Obviously, we won't be able to find H.J. Darling in this time period again."

"Okay. So?"

Justin took a deep breath. "So, I think we have to go to the future."

Alex blinked. "Are you crazy?" she hissed. "After everything we've heard about it?"

"We don't have a choice. If we want to find out what happened, and no one will tell us, we have to go see it for ourselves. You do want to change the future, don't you?"

"I don't even know what we're changing!"

"Exactly," said Justin. "That's what scares me."

"What do you mean?"

"If we don't know what happens, we can't avoid it. We have to know. Don't you want to save our family?"

Alex was silent, remembering the last time they had had to fight to save their family, on their ill-fated Caribbean holiday and their frantic quest for the Stone of Dreams. Although he didn't say it, she knew Justin was thinking of it too.

"Of course I do," she admitted. "But a spell to take us to the future…Justin, that's advanced magic. We'd never be able to pull it off."

"Yes, we could," Justin assured her. "I found a spell that'll work, if the three of us work together."

Alex stared at him. "You _are _crazy."

"You're rubbing off on me."

Alex snorted. "Fine. When are we doing this?"

"Tonight."

* * *

_**A/N: Yeah, I suppose this timeline is sort of AU, given that in canon the Wizards of Wavery Place Movie didn't happen until after Season 2, but here I've placed it before Future Harper. Oh, well - it's fanfiction - it's almost meant to be AU.**_

_**Let's keep up the review trend, yeah? ;)**_


	5. Ten Years Is A Long Time

_**A/N: Oh, I have new readers! Hello and thank you to **feyhazelle **and **Dawn on fire **for favoriting/subscribing! Also thanks to **vlalita **for the one and only review on last chapter.**_

**Disclaimer: Jiggery-pokery, abracabris, I do not own this.  
**

* * *

**Chapter V  
Ten Years Is A Long Time**

In the middle of the night, when their parents were both asleep, Justin and Alex crept to Max's bedroom. They hadn't had a chance to tell their little brother what they were going to do because he'd been sleeping most of the day – Max was the only one still sick, as Jerry and Theresa had already recovered from their respective flus.

"Max," Justin whispered, cautiously picking his way through his brother's chaotic room to reach the bed. "Max, wake up. Max!" He gently shook his brother.

"Mmm…Justin?" Max mumbled sleepily. "Whaddaya doing in my room?"

Justin quickly and quietly explained his plan to Max. By the time he finished, Max was fully awake.

"So…we're going to the future to see the future so we can change the future?"

"Pretty much," Justin confirmed.

"Sounds like fun." Max sneezed.

"Do you feel up to it?" Justin asked in concern. "Alex and I can go alone if you're still feeling sick."

"Ah-choo!" Max sneezed again. "Nope, I'm good. I want to find out about this too."

"All right," Justin agreed. He reached out to grasp Alex's and Max's hands. Alex jumped at the contact and sprang back as if burned.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

Justin frowned at her. "It's for the spell."

"Why do we have to hold hands for the spell?" she complained.

"I didn't make the spell, all right?" he said, annoyed. "Will you give me your hand already?"

"Ugh…" Alex reluctantly extended her hand to him. "I'm holding my brother's hand. This is beyond weird."

"You have to hold Max's hand too," Justin informed her.

"But he's all germy and infective!"

"I know," Max gushed. "Isn't it cool?" He sneezed for the third time.

Justin was losing patience. "Alex, just hold his hand!"

Grumbling, Alex gingerly closed her fingers over Max's. "If I get sick because of this, you are going to be my nurse, and you're gonna do all my homework as well."

Justin ignored that. "Okay," he said. "Repeat after me. _Power of fire, wind, and rain…_"

_"Power of fire, wind and rain," _Alex and Max echoed.

_"Of present, past, and future pain…"_

_ "Of present, past, and future pain…"_

_ "Wizard magic overlapping reality…"_

_ "Wizard magic overlapping reality…"_

_ "To ten years' future take us three."_

_ "To ten years' future take us three!"_

A grey-white swirl, much like the one that had brought Future Justin to H.J. Darling's home, appeared in the center of the circle they had made. The swirl expanded until it enclosed them, and Max's room dissolved before their eyes, to be replaced by a much neater, much darker bedroom.

"Did it work?" Alex asked, looking around.

"I think so," Justin replied. "We're not in Max's room anymore."

At that moment, the door opened, and a young, dark-haired man came in. He was utterly astonished to find the three of them in his room.

"Alex!" he exclaimed in shock. "Justin!" His gaze traveled to Max. "Um…"

"Hi," Max greeted cheerily, before sneezing. "Excuse me," he apologized, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"What are you doing here?" The man's eyes flickered over the three of them, lingering on Alex. There was something in his face that seemed extremely familiar, but Alex couldn't make it out. "Where have you come from? _When _have you come from?"

"Uh…2009," Justin admitted. "Where are we?"

"2019," answered the man. "But you already knew that. You cast the time-travel spell, didn't you?"

"Who are you?" Alex questioned.

The man's gaze turned shifty. "I…uh…I don't think I should tell you that."

"Fine, then. Be that way." Alex pulled her wand out of her boot. _"Some are evil, some are kind, but now all must speak their mind." _She waved her wand. "Right, let's try this again. Who are you?"

The man crossed his arms over his chest and just looked at her – no doubt about it, Alex decided, there was something familiar in his eyes. "The truth spell won't work on me, Alex. I'm a full wizard. You're not. Only a full wizard can cast a truth spell on another full wizard."

Alex scowled. "Who made up _that _rule?" she scoffed. "And where exactly are we?"

The man just smiled slightly, though there was an inexplicable sadness about his smile.

"Well, if you're not going to tell me where we are, I'll find out myself." Alex stormed out of the room and stopped in the hallway outside. "Funny…" she mused, "this looks an awful lot like our loft."

"What?" Justin came out as well. "That is _weird_…"

"So…is this our loft?" Max asked, appearing beside them.

"Nah," Alex dismissed. "It can't be our loft. 'Cause if it's our loft, then this would be my room." She grasped the handle of the door on the right and pushed.

"Wait!" the man suddenly called, panic in his voice. "Don't open that!"

Ignoring him, Alex continued, "See? It…" She trailed off as she peered into an almost exact replica of her bedroom in 2009, except it was much dustier than the one she had left a few minutes ago.

"It…_is_ my room?" Alex was stunned; Justin and Max were equally flabbergasted.

The man came up behind them. "I told you not to open it," he said sadly.

"Hang on…" Justin ran down the stairs, only to gawk at none other than the Waverly Sub Station. It was clean, but empty, and clearly neglected – but it was most definitely the Russo family's shop. Justin walked back upstairs in a daze; his mind was reeling. He came face to face with the man from the bedroom at the top of the stairs.

"Figured it out, haven't you?" the man said unhappily.

"What is it?" asked Alex. "Justin, where are we?"

"We're…we're at the Sub Station," Justin replied numbly. "This is the Waverly Sub Station. That room we were in – it _is _Max's room, but it's Max's room ten years in the future." Something clicked in his head at that point. "And that means…" He spun to look at the man, comprehension shadowing his features. "You're Max. From the future."

Alex stared at the man in disbelief. "_Max_?" she exclaimed. She couldn't believe that the tall, broad-shouldered – and yes, handsome – man in front of her was her little brother. Now she knew why he had felt so familiar.

Max also gaped at his older self. "You're _me_?" He sneezed for the umpteenth time. "I look good."

"Max, what's going on?" Justin inquired. "What happened? Where's Mom and Dad?"

Future Max smiled that sad smile again. "How much do you know?"

"Not a lot," Justin admitted. "We met future Harper back in our time – she was writing books about our adventures, and we went to confront her…"

"Harper did what?" Future Max asked sharply. Justin backtracked.

"She wrote books about us, under the alias H.J. Darling. We went to confront her for stealing our stories, and then she let it slip that something bad was going to happen to make the future…well, what it is."

"I see." Future Max's tone was brooding. "Justin left out that part."

Justin looked confused. "What did I leave out?"

"Not you," Future Max corrected. "Future you. He came back with Harper about a week ago – gave me a hell of a lecture about helping her to go back to the past, too."

"Yep, sounds like him," Alex agreed. "Why is Future Justin such a jerk, anyway? I mean, Justin's annoying, but I never thought he'd grow up to be so mean."

"Thanks," Justin said, only half-sarcastically.

Future Max sighed. "A lot of things have happened since 2009, Alex. Not all of them were good. In fact, most of them weren't." He gave them a look. "But you already knew that, didn't you? Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"How do you know?" Justin asked.

"Because I know the Justin from ten years ago would have done anything to save his family." Future Max sighed. "I can't tell you how many times I've wished that the Justin I know now was still like that."

"Wow," Max commented through a blocked nose. "Older me is way serious. I don't think I like it."

Future Max chuckled. "I forgot what an idiot I was when I was younger," he remarked. "Those days seem so far away now."

"Well, you're right," Justin told him. "We _are_ here to change the future. I don't know about future me, but this me is going to do whatever it takes to save our family. But we need to know what happened." He gazed at Future Max. "Can you tell us?"

Future Max looked at him for a long while. "Older Justin is not going to like this."

"Older Justin can go jump off a cliff," Alex retorted. She glanced at her brother. "You know what, Justin? Don't change. I like you this way."

Justin smiled. "Sorry, what?" He cupped his hand behind his ear as his face took on an expression of mock bewilderment.

Alex scoffed. "Oh, no, you don't. You heard me perfectly well. I'm not saying it again."

Justin chuckled.

Future Max watched his siblings from the past interact, with a wistful look in his eyes. Heaven knew, he'd missed this dearly.

"All right," he decided, causing the three young Russos to look at him questioningly. "I know I shouldn't, but I think it's the right thing to do." He inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "I'll tell you what happened."

* * *

_**A/N: And tomorrow the Russos - and you readers - finally get some solid answers about the future.**_


	6. The Truth Hurts

_**A/N: Do you guys appreciate this story or not? It's hard to tell, without reviews, ya know. But all the same, thanks to **Queen Quenn of Nerdingham **(I've been mispelling your name all this time, haven't I? Apologies), who submitted the one review on last chapter.**  
_

**Disclaimer: I have a feeling that I do not own the Russo family or the wizarding world.**

* * *

**Chapter VI  
The Truth Hurts**

Once they were settled in the living room they all knew well, Future Max began.

"Before I start, you should know that this future pretty much sucks rocks,"  
he warned them. "A lot of really awful things happened…" His eyes skimmed towards Alex. "The world is literally nothing like it was in your time. Are you sure you're ready to hear about it?"

Justin, Alex, and Max exchanged glances. Alex and Max nodded. Justin said, "We're ready."

Future Max nodded. "Okay." He took a breath. "I guess I should start at the wizard competition."

All three Russos leaned forward.

"We had the competition after I turned sixteen," Future Max said. "Everyone who mattered was in the audience cheering us on – Mom and Dad, Professor Crumbs, Juliet and Mason…"

"Who are Juliet and Mason?" Alex inquired. Future Max looked surprised.

"You haven't met either of them yet?" When they shook their heads no, Future Max said, "Gosh, I must have sent Harper back earlier than I thought…well, long story short, Juliet was Justin's vampire girlfriend, and Mason was Alex's werewolf boyfriend."

"I have a vampire for a girlfriend?" Justin asked disbelievingly. "An actual vampire?"

"You _had_," Future Max corrected. "She broke up with you because you became…well…"

"A jerk," Alex supplied. "What about me and Mason?"

Future Max squirmed. "I'll get to that."

"You told Justin what happened with Juliet! Why do I have to wait?"

Future Max sighed. "Alex, please, trust me on this. I'll get to it."

Alex subsided, motioning for him to continue.

"I won't go through the whole competition," said Future Max. "It's not important. The main thing is…Justin won."

"Yes!" Justin pumped his fist in the air. "I knew it! I become the family wizard!" Of course, he must have won, given that his future self was obviously a full wizard – but that still begged the question of how Max was also a full wizard.

"I don't believe this! How did Justin win?" Alex demanded.

"I told you I was going to win the competition," Justin said smugly. "All those years of studying paid off big time."

"Congratulations, Justin," Max said. "But now that we know you're gonna win, we can sabotage you to increase our chances."

"Aha!" Alex pounced on that. "Now that we know the future, we can change the future. That is the best idea you've ever had, Max!"

"Thanks." He sneezed explosively.

"Oh yeah?" Justin challenged. "Well, I'm gonna work even harder now that I know I'm gonna win."

"Guys!" Future Max interrupted just as Alex was about to make another retort. "Stop it! Trust me, the competition is the _least _important thing that happened."

That gave the siblings pause.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Let me finish explaining." Future Max exhaled. "It was a really close race. For the final part of the competition we had to find our way out of a maze. The first one out would be the family wizard. Alex was in the lead. Justin was right behind her, and I was a little behind Justin. Alex was about to cross the finish line when Justin's foot got stuck in a tree root."

"But then how –" Justin gazed at Alex, comprehension dawning. "She came back for me, didn't she?" Alex blinked at him, as astonished as he was.

"Yes," Future Max affirmed. "By the time she got your foot free, I'd caught up – we were at the exact same place. Then we all ran for the exit, and Justin made it out first."

"So I became the family wizard." There was no gloating in Justin's voice now, just a sense of soft triumph which he knew he owed his sister. He locked eyes with Alex. "I can't believe you did that for me."

"Don't look at me," she said. "I can't believe it either."

"Actually, Justin," said Future Max, "you didn't. Professor Crumbs was about to proclaim you the family wizard, but you couldn't let him do it. You admitted what Alex had done and you gave her your place. Alex became the family wizard."

Now it was Alex's turn to be stunned by Justin's selflessness. "Justin…I don't know what to say."

"I can't believe I'm going to do that," Justin confessed.

"Thank you," Alex said sincerely. Who would've thought the angry, bitter Justin in H.J. Darling's living room had done that for her future self?

Justin smiled at her.

Max, however, wore a puzzled frown. "Wait…if Alex became the family wizard, how did you and Future Justin also become full wizards?"

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense," Justin realized. How was it that all three of them had kept their wizard powers? Was there some massive loophole they'd been able to exploit?

"After he made Alex the family wizard, Professor Crumbs retired," Future Max explained. "He made Justin Headmaster of WizTech and gave him full wizard powers then and there. Alex and Justin both became full wizards, and I got the Sub Station business. We were all happy…and for once, we were all happy at the same time."

"But you're a full wizard," Alex said in confusion.

Future Max's face darkened with sorrow. "I know. I wish I wasn't." His eyes were incredibly sad, and he suddenly appeared to be bowed with grief.

Justin and Alex both paused to examine their younger brother's future self. Whatever it was that had happened, it had forced Max to grow up in ways they thought he never would. Gone was the smart-yet-amazingly-stupid boy full of confused questions about the simplest things and with a mischievous streak a mile wide. In his place was a serious, sober young man possessed of enormous maturity – not all of it a good thing, as it spoke of hard events that had stripped away the levity and innocence of their little brother, and definitely more than they ever wanted to see in their Max.

On impulse, Alex wrapped her arms around the young Max sitting next to her.

"What was that for?" a bewildered Max questioned. Alex smiled and did not answer him.

Justin cleared his throat, swallowing the lump that had settled there, and addressed Future Max. "What happened next?"

Future Max sighed. "This is where it gets bad."

Without realizing they were doing it, all three young Russos locked hands as they braced themselves for what was coming.

"About a year after the wizard competition," said Future Max, "Alex was really upset because Mom, Dad, and even Mason were all on her case for being too immature and irresponsible about her powers. Alex wished she could separate all the bad parts of herself from the good parts so that she could live up to everyone's expectations. And there was a guy from WizTech – one of Justin's colleagues – named Dominic, who convinced her that since she was such a powerful wizard, she could make a spell that would separate her bad from her good."

"And Alex did it?" Justin asked incredulously. His grip on his sister's hand tightened.

Future Max nodded in confirmation. "The spell created two versions of Alex – Good Alex and Bad Alex. Bad Alex immediately sided with Dominic in his plan for world domination – he was going to eliminate all the mortals so he could rule over a world of wizards. He needed Alex because it turns out that she was the most powerful wizard of our generation, but he knew she would never help him unless her bad side became a person of its own. Good Alex tried to fix things – against everyone's advice, she revealed the existence of wizards to the entire world so she could warn mortals to watch out for Dominic's magic."

"I don't believe it!" Max exclaimed. "It wasn't me who told the world about wizards after all!"

"Max, focus!" Alex was on the edge of her seat, and had Justin's hand in a vice-like grip. This was her future they were talking about. "Keep going!"

"Good Alex managed to corner Bad Alex and absorb her back into herself, so Alex was Alex again. But…"

"But?" Alex urged.

Future Max closed his eyes, looking as though he were in pain. "Dominic…he…" He swallowed, and, with difficulty, managed to force the next words out of his throat. "He killed you, Alex."

Justin, Alex, and Max sat frozen, eyes wide and mouths open in sheer horror.

"I'm sorry, what?" Alex asked in a strangled voice.

"Alex…" Max clutched his older sister's hand as if it were a lifeline, for once completely serious. "Alex, you can't die," he pleaded, in the most child-like voice he had used since he turned seven. "Who's gonna help me prank Justin?"

"How can Alex…die?" Justin's voice was unsteady. "It can't be true…"

"It's not true," Alex declared resolutely. "It can't be. You're making this up, right?" she asked Future Max. She forced a laugh. "Great prank, Max. Real funny."

Future Max shook his head, grief oozing out of every pore in his body. "I'm sorry, Alex, but I'm not pranking you. It's all true." He looked at the trio sympathetically, wishing with all his heart that he could say it wasn't. "Dominic killed you on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and when you died, your powers as the family wizard passed to me. That's how I became a full wizard, and that's why I wish I didn't." He hesitated before delivering his next sentence. "And after that is when the whole world turned crazy, and everything went very, very wrong."

* * *

**_A/N: So now you know what happened to Alex. And now..._**

**_Oh, forget it. Even if I ask and plead, if you guys don't want to review you won't. So I'll just close by informing you all that I will not be able to update for a week - and regardless of what I may have been griping about, it's not because of the lack of reviews. So anyway! Next chapter will be up next Sunday or Monday. Sorry about the gigantic cliffhanger - it just so happened that today was the last day I could update._**


	7. We Have To Change The Future

_**A/N: So sorry to keep everyone waiting so long, but I was on vacation the past week in a place without wifi. But, you guys surprised me - six reviews, three subscriptions, and one favorite! Maybe I should make it weekly updates instead of (mostly) daily updates...**_

_**Nah XD  
**_

_** Thanks a bunch to **Dawn on fire, Queen Quenn of Nerdingham, Guest, vlalita, Phantomxx, **and **Jessica **for reviewing, and to **Nattyaye, Alpha19, **and **5LGF311 **for subscribing/favoriting.**  
_

**Disclaimer: I was on vacation, not negotiating the rights for **_Wizards of Waverly Place**.**_

**_Warning: Info dump - oh, and another cliffhanger ;)  
_**

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**Chapter VII  
We Have To Change The Future**

As Future Max went on to tell them about everything that had happened after Alex's death, the three Russos from the past listened with growing dismay to the tale of their bleak future.

It took a while for the war to actually begin, Future Max explained. Alex's death broke the Russo family. Justin, with the help of Max and the powers he had inherited from his dead sister, had defeated Dominic and unforgivingly thrown him off the Tower of Pisa to his death. Thereafter Justin resigned as Headmaster of WizTech and returned to Waverly Place to grieve with his family and help Max come to terms with his new powers as the family wizard. For several months, the Russos, Harper, and Mason mourned for Alex. But for a while it looked as though they would get through this.

However, it was not to be. Alex's revelation of the wizarding world to the general population had major ramifications. At the lowest level, the Sub Station was forced to close its business because mortals quickly developed wizard phobia (especially after Dominic's plot) and refused to support a wizard-run enterprise; the Russo family were shunned by the rest of Waverly Place, and a heartbroken Jerry made the decision to shut down the family business for good not long after Alex's funeral. At the highest level, the world was split into a tense battleground, with wizards on one side and mortals on the other. Despite the best efforts of Professor Crumbs – who was forced out of retirement by the crisis – and the Wizard Council, they were not able to reach a negotiation with mortals, who – with only a few exceptions – now lived in fear of all things magical.

Approximately one year after Alex's death, when the hostility between wizards and mortals was at its peak, the dam was broken. A coalition of magical creatures including Dark Angels, werewolves, vampires, Giants, ogres, and mummies started the war by launching an attack on the place they viewed as the seat of mortal authority: Washington, D.C. The world quickly split into two distinct sides, as wizards and other magical creatures – such as Guardian Angels, fairies, elves, gargoyles, Cucuy, and Mason and Juliet (two dissenters who decided to fight on the side of the wizards instead of with the majority of their species) – rallied to defend Earth against the attacking coalition, while the mortal community lived in terror as their world became the battlefield for the magical war.

As the war raged on and the members of the Wizard Council (including Professor Crumbs) were killed by the enemy one by one, Justin became the de facto leader of the wizard side, by virtue of his position as Professor Crumbs' successor. Max, as the inheritor of Alex's status as the most powerful wizard of their generation, also became a prominent figure in the wizarding world and in the war. Both brothers suffered another huge loss when Jerry and Theresa were killed by vampires in 2015; and in 2016 on two separate occasions, Justin lost his left eye in an ogre attack and had the muscle in his right leg torn so savagely by a werewolf that he would never walk properly again.

The war finally ended in 2017, after three years of ravage and destruction. The non-wizard magical side lost, and the wizards who defeated them were left with the task of reshaping the damaged Earth. Unfortunately, the mortals were not making it easy for the weary wizards. As one, the majority of mortals, after witnessing the power of magic and the carnage it could wreak, turned on the wizards in their fear – thus began the second, wizards vs. mortals phase of the war.

The new war lasted throughout 2017 and much of 2018, but thanks to Justin's and Harper's efforts, a compromise was reached between wizards and mortals, and the fighting finally ceased in mid-2018. Since then, much rebuilding and reconstruction of society had been occurring, with Justin, Max, and Mason as the faces of the wizarding world who strove to work with the mortal leaders. However, it was a daunting task, and it would be a long time before the world regained some semblance of its state before mortals became aware of magic.

"And that's it," finished Future Max.

A heavy silence met his words, almost suffocating in its gravity.

Perhaps predictably, Max was the first one to break it. "We have to change this," he declared, his uncharacteristically serious mood continuing.

"I agree," Justin concurred. Alex looked white as a sheet, and he squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, Alex. We'll change the future. We won't let you die." His eyes darkened. "And if I really do become Headmaaster of WizTech, I'm going to fire this Dominic person and keep him far away from you."

"I hope so," Future Max put in. "There were many times during the war when it was suggested that we go back in time to change the future – prevent any of this from ever happening. Normally, tampering with the continuity is forbidden, but many of us believed that such a desperate situation called for desperate measures. Harper, Mason, and I were always strong supporters of this idea, but Justin never was. He said we couldn't risk making things even worse."

"Yeah, we've heard all about _that_," Alex sniffed. Future Max looked regretful.

"Don't be too hard on him, Alex. The war was harsh on all of us, but it was hardest on him." There was a sense of great loss in Future Max's eyes. "Everything he went through broke him. He had an impossible job, he lost Mom and Dad, and he was never the same after you died. That took a heavy toll on him."

Alex was quiet; now it was her turn to squeeze Justin's fingers.

"Why did we send Harper back to the past?" Max asked.

"We?" Future Max questioned.

Max shrugged. "I'm you, right? And you're me."

"Right," Future Max agreed. "Well, I sent Harper back because she needed an escape. She missed Alex real bad, and the situation here was too overwhelming for her. She was depressed here, and all she wanted to do was go back to the past when times were happier. She asked Justin if he would help her go back, but he wouldn't cast the spell – so I did it instead."

"So, you didn't send her back so she could change the future?" Alex asked, a little hesitantly.

Future Max shook his head. "No. I actually told her to be extremely careful not to change anything…I wanted to change the future, but I knew Justin was right when he said there was a huge risk. And I didn't want to go behind his back."

"So why are you telling us all this now?" Justin inquired.

Future Max glanced at him, realizing with a start that he was actually older than his big brother. "I told you all this because now that I see you – _us_ – as we were before, I realize that the future has to change. It can't stay the way it is now. Justin would be furious if he found out what I'm doing, but that doesn't matter anymore, because I'm not doing this for the sake of changing the future. I'm doing this to save my family."

He looked at each of them in turn. "I miss you every single day, Alex," he admitted, his voice trembling slightly. "So does Justin, and so do Mason and Harper. It isn't right, having a future without you. I have to save you. Whenever I see Justin now – the one from this time – I keep thinking that it isn't right, he shouldn't have become what he is. He lost himself over the last six years. I have to save him, too. And I have to save Mom and Dad, because they shouldn't have been sucked dry by vampires the way they were." He closed his eyes, still haunted by the memory of their parents' bloodless bodies. "And I have to save myself too," he finishes quietly. "Because I've seen horrors and deaths and too many terrible things to name, and I'm a full wizard and _I don't want to be_, and I'm only gonna be okay if my family's back the way it was. And that's impossible with this future, so this future has to change."

It was at that precise moment, watching Future Max all but break down in front of them, that Justin and Alex realized that their brother was not as oblivious as he pretended to be. One glance at the younger Max's face was all it took to confirm this theory – their brother's jaw was set, his eyes determined. Young as he was, Max was clearly mature enough to understand the devastating consequences of this future, and the dangerous risks of trying to change it; his moronic tendencies, his remarkable idiocy, his stupendous ignorance – those were all an act.

"If we change the future," said Max, "I won't grow up to be you, will I?"

"Most likely not," Future Max affirmed. "Unless this future is a fixed point that can't be changed, and let's hope that isn't the case."

"And you're okay with that?" Max asked. "You're okay with never existing?"

Future Max shrugged. "It won't make a difference to me, will it? Since I'll have never existed. Besides," he added, "what's the alternative? Living through this future? I'd rather take my chances with practically erasing this version of myself from the continuity." He bent down to his younger self's level. "I know you don't fully understand it now. But one day you will. Family is everything, Max." His gaze flickered to Justin and Alex. "The future's not worth living without them. Trust me on this. I _know_." He cracked a small smile. "And you should trust me anyway, because I'm you."

Max stared into his future self's eyes for a long time, then nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "So how do we do it? How do we change the future?"

It surprised everyone when a familiar voice said, "You don't."

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_**A/N: Next chapter as usual tomorrow! Now let's replicate those six reviews, hmm?**_


	8. This Is What We're Fighting For

_**A/N: Hmm. So apparently we're back to the one review, this time by the same **Guest **as before - thanks for that, by the way! And thanks to **BubblegumPenguins **for subscribing as well!**_

**Disclaimer: Anything familiar is not mine. **

_**And we start right where we left off yesterday.  
**_

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**Chapter VIII  
This Is What We're Fighting For**

28-year-old Justin Russo stood in the doorway, eye patch and cane painfully prominent. His scarred face was twisted in a scowl.

"What are you doing, Max?" he demanded.

Future Max met his elder brother's stormy gaze calmly. "I'm changing the future, Justin."

"First you send Harper back in time and she almost jeopardizes everything, and now you've brought our younger selves to the future to tell them exactly how to destroy the continuity…"

"I didn't bring them here," Future Max interrupted. "They brought themselves."

Future Justin looked furious. Alex moved quickly to head that off.

"Before you start yelling at anyone," she warned, "you should probably know that this whole thing was your idea." She stabbed a finger at him.

He stared at her. "I don't recall ever telling you –"

"Not _you_, specifically," Alex corrected impatiently. "_Him_." She pointed at the Justin next to her. "But he's you – or you're him, whatever – so technically it _was _your idea."

"You remember what you were like when you were eighteen, don't you?" Future Max put in.

"I was a naïve fool when I was eighteen," Future Justin declared. "I can excuse them for doing something like this – because it seems like we were always getting ourselves into messes ten years ago – but I expected better from you, Max."

"You were a hopeful and determined young man when you were eighteen," Future Max reminded him. "Where do you think I learned that?"

"Learned what? How to be stupidly stubborn?"

"No, optimistic." Future Max's voice remained level. "I believe that things will work out for the best if we change the future, just like your younger self does."

"We talked about this," Future Justin hissed. "You can't do it. The risk –"

"Is worth it," Future Max said firmly. "_Look_ at them, Justin. Really look at them. Look at them – _us_ – and tell me it's not worth it."

Future Justin reluctantly trained his lone eye on the younger version of his family. He saw his own self, ten years younger, protectively extending his arms in front of his siblings, as if defending them from his future self. He could hardly remember himself at that age, tortured as he was by everything he had suffered since then. But here he was – eighteen, expectant, resolute, an aspiring wizard, but above all, a dedicated brother, willing to do whatever it took to save his family and full of belief that it would somehow work. To be shown such a vivid picture of the man he'd used to be forced him to wonder about when and where he had lost himself.

He saw Max, almost a completely different person from the brother he knew now. Unlike 23-year-old Max – who was serious, reserved, and emotionally scarred – 13-year-old Max was still innocent, untainted, relaxed, and joyful. Future Justin had not seen his brother so carefree for a long time, and deep within himself, he knew he had mourned for Max's lost innocence. Max had grown into an admirable, mature, and responsible young man, remarkably steady despite all he had been through, the one living Russo who had emerged from six years' worth of horrors miraculously still believing in the good – but he had lost something he never should have, something he could never regain. Comparing him to the young Max, Future Justin felt an ache in his heart as he saw his brother the way he should have been.

The ache intensified a hundredfold as his gaze landed on Alex. Oh, how he missed her! Before he'd seen her in H.J. Darling's residence in 2009, he had not laid eyes on his sister for over six years, and he'd almost forgotten what she looked like. Seeing her again, here in front of him, alive, radiant, healthy, and beautiful, brought a thousand memories flooding back into his troubled mind. He remembered bailing her out of trouble a hundred times, then a hundred more; he remembered fighting and arguing with her; he remembered competing with her in the wizard competition the first time, and her begging with him not to leave when he forgot her; he remembered them comforting each other after Mason and Juliet had fought each other. He remembered her pausing before the finish line in the next wizard competition, about to win a second time, before she turned back and freed him and gave him the chance to beat her out of the maze – remembered making the decision to let her be the family wizard so she could stay with Mason. And lastly, he remembered the memory that haunted him most of all – Dominic murdering her with dark magic on the Tower of Pisa, snuffing out the light in her eyes and in her soul, causing her beauty to pale and fade into death.

He glanced back at Future Max, who raised his eyebrows, silently daring him to say that saving their family wasn't worth the risk. And then he sighed in defeat, because what else could he answer after Max had basically shoved their past selves – back when life was good and they were still happy – in his face?

"You're right," he agreed. "It is worth it." Then his features hardened before his brother had a chance to seize on his agreement. "But I can't, Max."

"Why not?" Future Max demanded. "If it's worth the risk, why can't you?"

"I just can't," said Future Justin, avoiding his brother's gaze.

"How many times did you make a similar judgment call during the war?" Future Max pressed.

"This is different."

"Yes, because the stakes are higher. All the more reason you should do the right thing."

"Max." Future Justin sighed wearily. "The stakes are _too_ high. I'm sorry, I can't. Send them home." He started to trudge out of the room.

"I've already told them everything that's going to happen!" Future Max called after him.

"Of course you have." Future Justin sounded more resigned than angry as he left the room completely.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Alex fumed, dashing after him.

"Alex, wait!" Justin called.

Alex paid no attention to him and instead rushed into the hallway, where she saw Future Justin beginning to make the slow trek down the stairs. She felt a pang of sympathy for him as she watched him half-drag his bad leg behind him, but she pushed it aside.

"Hey, Justin!"

Future Justin stopped and looked at her. Alex marched straight up to him.

"What is your problem about changing the future?" she demanded. "Harper wanted to do it, Max wants to do it – the you from ten years ago wants to do it! And you admitted that it's worth the risk but you still won't do it? What the heck is up with that?"

"Alex…"

"I know that a lot of bad things have happened to you, but that doesn't give you the right to be an angry jerk! You don't see Max acting that way, do you?"

"Alex."

"Do you want me to die? Is that it? I annoyed you so much that you want me dead? Is that why you won't change the future?"

"Alex!"

Alex finally halted her tirade to glower at him, but she was taken aback by the amount of pain and grief brimming in his one eye. When he spoke, his voice was broken.

"Alex, I'd give anything – _anything _– for you to still be annoying me. The day you died…a part of me died with you. And not a day goes by when I don't think of you – of us, how we used to be – you, me, and Max. You left a hole in my heart that can never be filled, and it hurts me every single day. There's a lot of pain, but I've learned to live with it. But if I do this – if I help you change the future and it doesn't work – I don't think I'll be able to live with that pain. Because if I allowed myself to hope, and you died anyway, I wouldn't be able to bear it. I can't lose you again, Alex."

Alex blinked, thoroughly astonished, startled to see Future Justin's eye gleaming with unshed tears, and even more surprised to find her own eyes wet.

"You won't." Justin came up to stand beside his sister; he had heard the whole exchange. He took her hand, and for once she did not protest. "_We_ won't," he corrected himself. "We'll change the future, and it _will _work."

"How do you know?" Future Justin questioned. He almost couldn't believe his younger self was so optimistic.

Justin cracked a slight smile. "Because it's you and I. How could we not?"

Future Justin's breath left him as he heard his younger self repeat the same words he'd once told Alex during the hunt for the Stone of Dreams, so long ago.

"And because you're going to help us," Justin continued calmly. "Max already told us everything that's going to happen, but he says if we want to make absolutely sure that the new future is better, there are certain things that we have to do – and he said you're the best person to tell us what to do, because you know everything there is to know about magic and time travel."

Future Justin raised his eyebrow. "Then wouldn't you know that as well? Since I'm you and all."

"You've got ten years on me," Justin reminded him. "We can save Alex, but we need you to tell us what to do so that we can make absolutely certain that we change the future for the better."

"Please?" Alex added, looking at him imploringly.

Future Justin sighed, observing his sister and his past self. Max was right – he'd used to be full of belief and determination to protect his family, and his brother no doubt had assumed those same attributes that he'd lost over the years. And looking at Alex as she was now, young, vibrant, and willful…remembering his promise to himself to always protect her, how could he not help her now?

"All right," he relented. He nodded at the younger Justin. "We'll do it. We'll change the future."

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_**A/N: Just three more chapters to go! **_

_**Reviews? Hehe...please do, if you want.**_


	9. Now There Is Hope

_**A/N: Yay! Four reviews! That's more like it! Many thanks to reviewers ** , vlalita, Guest**, and **Kaycie232**. Also thanks to **purzel, , Kaycie232, Vesper Liora, **and **kKanatsu **for favoriting/subscribing.**_

_**A word of advice - unless you're really good at grasping bogglingly abstract concepts while multi-tasking, I suggest removing all distractions while reading this chapter. You'll need your wits about you to keep up with all the tangled time travel threads. Heck, I nearly went mad myself writing it.**_

**Disclaimer: No deal.**

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**Chapter IX  
Now There Is Hope**

"Right, here's how time travel works."

They were all gathered in the living room of their loft. The three younger Russos were sitting on the couch; Future Justin was in the armchair opposite them and Future Max was off to the side. On the coffee table in the middle rested a few sheets of paper and two pens for writing or drawing with – given that they were dealing with such a complicated matter, Future Max had thought it best that they have something to illustrate with in order to make it easier for their younger selves to understand.

"The time stream is like a river," Future Justin continued, picking up a pen and drawing on a paper. "Just as a river contains many different particles and elements, the timeline we're in is made up of everything that's ever happened in the past, present, and future. Theoretically, if you change the composition of the river, you change whatever is downstream from the point of alteration.

"Now, all rivers will flow into the sea – the sea is the future, the sum total of everything the river has poured into it and possibly more, depending on what other rivers empty into it. If you change the composition of the river, then, in theory, the composition of the sea – the future – should change too."

"That's what we're doing, right?" Alex clarified. "Changing the composition of the river?"

"Not exactly," Future Justin disagreed. "See, the thing about changing the composition of the river is that it's really only a minor change – the river still ends up in the same sea. If all we did was change the particles in the river, we'd end up with a future that's more or less the same, just with slight differences in its content."

Alex frowned. "I don't get it."

"It's sort of like how when you add sugar to coffee, the coffee is still the same, but it's made up of something slightly different," Future Max explained. "So if we just changed the composition of the future, we'd still have the same future, even if some minor details of that future are different."

"We don't want to do that," added Future Justin. "What we want to do is to change the course of the river itself – make it go to a different sea, so to speak – or in other words, change the coffee to tea. That involves doing certain things at specific points in the time stream in order to divert the continuity to where we want it to go."

"All right," Justin agreed. "So what do we need to do and when do we need to do it?"

"It's not that simple," said Future Max. "We could tell you everything you needed to know, but it still wouldn't make a difference."

"How come?" asked Max.

"Because changing the future creates a paradox," answered Future Justin. "If you do something that your future self told you to do, it would change the future – and because you've changed the future, that future self who told you what to do would no longer exist, so they would not have been able to tell you what to do, and you wouldn't have done it, and the future wouldn't change. In the end, it's a paradox – because nothing changes even if you do something to change things."

"Ow," Alex said theatrically, holding a hand to her head. Future Justin and Future Max looked at her in some alarm until she said, "My brain hurts. How are we supposed to remember all this?"

"That's exactly the point," Future Justin told her. "If you go back to your time period and try to change the future based on what we've told you, you won't change anything because of the paradox that would create – and you wouldn't remember any of this, either."

"Great," Justin commented. "So how are we going to do this?"

"When you go back," said Future Max, "we want to make sure that you change the future in such a way that it circumvents the paradox. See, the thing is, once you do anything – no matter how small – to change the future based on what we've said, the river downstream will automatically tweak as well, and the people who told you to do it – meaning us – would also be slightly different, and we wouldn't be the same people who told you to do it, so we wouldn't have told you – and we'd be back to the paradox problem, because you'd forget the future you saw and you wouldn't do things to change it."

"What you need to do," put in Future Justin, "is to arrange it such that even when you forget this future, and forget what you have to do to prevent this future, you'll still manage to divert the time stream, even if you don't realize you're doing it."

"Wait," Justin interjected, "so we're not going to remember what's going to happen once we start changing things? We'll forget what we've learned here and what we're trying to prevent?"

"Yes," Future Max confirmed.

"Well, then how are we supposed to change the future?" Alex demanded. This was starting to sound impossible.

"There's only one way," answered Future Justin. "You have to install roadblocks – structures that will block the river from flowing to the original sea even when you forget. And you are the ones who have to do it, because if we do it we'd still have the paradox problem."

"What roadblocks?" Justin inquired. "How do we install them?"

"That's where it gets tricky," Future Justin admitted. "For the roadblocks to work, there's really only one way to build them."

"What's that?" Alex queried. Max was just trying to keep up with the incredibly complex concepts being discussed, and was unable to articulate any questions in his current state of cognitive overload.

"You'll have to implant them in your own subconscious," Future Max replied.  
"And in order to prevent the paradox, you'll have to do it before you came to the future to learn about it."

"We're going to help you return to your time, a little before you left to come to the future," Future Justin informed them. "Once you're there, you need to implant your memories of everything Max told you about the future into your past selves' subconscious minds. When the time stream begins to change, the paradox will take effect, but because you've implanted the memories in yourselves _before _you were going to change anything, there will be a loophole in the flow of the continuity – and the three of you, with your implanted memories, will pass through to the other side before the paradox closes the hole, sort of like the end of the rope that goes through a knot."

"But even with the loophole, we still won't remember this future?" Justin asked.

"No, because by right your memories of this future shouldn't be in your heads at all," Future Justin responded. "And the paradox will cause you to forget, despite the loophole. But because of the loophole, you will still have the roadblocks in your minds. So there will be the blocks there at key points in your time stream, and you won't know why, but you'll feel as though you have to avoid this, or do that instead – because that will be the information from this continuity leaking through the loophole and making sure that the time stream is redirected."

Max scrunched up his face in intense concentration, trying to understand, then gave up. "Yeah…all I hear is…" He blew out noisily while waving his hand in a know-nothing gesture.

"I'm with Max on this one," Alex agreed.

"Okay…" Justin said slowly, "I think I get it." He looked up at his future self. "It all boils down to us implanting the knowledge into our subconscious before we came to the future, and we'll be able to change the future from there?"

"Yep, that's it," Future Justin confirmed.

"But we won't remember doing it and we won't remember this future?"

"Not until you reach this exact point of time in your new continuity."

Justin looked puzzled. "But I thought the paradox would make us forget everything? How come we'll remember once we reach this point in our continuity?"

"Because by then you'll have reached the sea, so to speak," Future Max replied. "And when you're out on the sea, it's easy to look back and see how the river might have gone another way, or how things have changed – you may even be able to see another sea. It's like they say – hindsight is 20/20."

"So we'll only remember doing all this when we've lived ten years in our own continuity?" Alex checked.

"Exactly."

Future Justin waved his wand and three separate pieces of paper appeared. He gave one each to Justin, Alex, and Max, and told them, "This is the spell you'll need to implant your memories. You each need to cast the spell on yourselves. Max and I will send you back to about an hour before you cast the time travel spell to come here."

"Do you all remember where you were one hour ago?" Future Max inquired. "Were you all in the same place?"

"Yeah," said Alex. "We were all in the loft."

"Good. Are you ready?"

Justin looked at Alex and Max. "We're ready."

"Then let's do it," said Future Justin. _"To ten years' future came these three…"_

_ "To ask for knowledge from future we," _Future Max chanted.

_"From whence they came we send them back," _Future Justin continued.

_ "Not exactly, but before one hour's track," _Future Max finished.

The now-familiar grey-white time tunnel whisked the Russos back to their past, leaving Future Justin and Future Max to hope for their younger selves to save their future.

"What happens now?" Max asked.

"Now," said Justin, as white blankness began to overtake everything around them, "we disappear. They've changed the future – whether for better or for worse – so we no longer exist."

"A better future is worth our never existing," Max mused.

"Suppose so," Justin agreed. The white had swallowed up half the room already, in the process of erasing this continuity to make way for the new one.

"Justin, I'm scared."

Justin reached out and pulled his brother close – they had not hugged this way since the day of Alex's funeral. "We'll be all right," he assured him.

The emptiness of white had wiped out the entire room by now, and they were the only part of this future still existing. Max closed his eyes as the white started eating at them – it was a strange kind of numbness, like he was floating away piece by piece, but it didn't hurt.

"To a better future," he whispered. Then he was gone, as the white took over completely, and he and Justin vanished from the continuity.

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_**A/N: Did you manage to keep up or did I unhinge your mind with the twisty and confusing concepts? If so, I do apologize.**_


	10. This Feels Familiar

_**A/N: Thank you to** Kacie232, Guest, **and **Little Miss Sunday **for reviewing, and to **NicNack4U **and **Little Miss Sunday **for favor****iting and subscribing.**_

_**Getting close to the end now...**_

**Disclaimer:** **Justin, Alex, and Max, and all other characters here belong to Disney Channel. **

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**Chapter X  
This Feels Familiar**

The first time Justin Russo meets Juliet van Heusen, it's love at first sight. Justin falls for her, and he falls hard. Despite the competition between the Waverly Sub Station and the Late Nite Bite, the Russos and the van Heusens, with much convincing from Alex, eventually allow their children to date.

However, Justin often wonders why it feels as though Juliet's name is exceedingly familiar. The first time she introduces herself, saying, "I'm Juliet van Heusen", he'd responds with, "I know." He doesn't know how he knows, because he has never seen her before – but they laugh it off as a slip, a reflex response on Justin's part.

And though he grows to be completely at ease around Juliet, Justin is constantly wary of her parents, and he isn't sure it is just because they had tried to eat Alex's and Harper's blood. True, he is uncomfortable about the fact that they are vampires, but if that were the only reason for his mistrust, why does he not feel wary of Juliet?

* * *

The mummy Justin has to hunt down in order to complete his Monster Hunting course frightens him more than it should. For no reason he can determine, the mere idea of a mummy gives him a sense of foreboding in his gut. Somehow, he has the inescapable feeling that the mere idea of a mummy is bad news.

And he turns out to be right. His search for the blasted mummy leads to his losing Juliet to the very monster he is supposed to hunt. He has to give her up and let her become the mummy's slave in order to save her life, and he swears to her that he will save her. But when Alex promises that she will help him save Juliet, he is besieged by an irrational fear that she will get hurt, and shoots down her offer altogether.

* * *

When Alex starts gushing about a boy named Mason, both Justin and Max wonder why the name sounds familiar to them. Though Mason appears to be a perfectly normal, ordinary person, the first time Alex brings him home Justin is immediately sure that he's hiding something. Alex doesn't believe him until she realizes that Mason keeps sneaking away before the sun sets.

As is later revealed, Mason is a werewolf, and Justin would feel totally vindicated in saying "I told you so" if he isn't so miserable about his failure to find and rescue Juliet.

Neither sibling dreams that accepting Mason's offer of help to find Juliet would yield such tragic consequences. After Juliet leaves as an old woman and Mason runs into the forest as a proper wolf as a result of their battle against each other, Justin and Alex sit on the steps of the castle, both heartbroken, finding solace in each other.

"Justin, promise me we'll find normal people," Alex pleads.

"We're not normal people," Justin sadly replies. After a beat, he adds, "But you know something?"

"What?"

He clasps her hand in his. "Don't give up hope. It might be reversible – they could come back."

Her eyes light up with a glimmer of hope. "Really? You think so?"

He smiles at her. "You never know."

* * *

Amazingly, Justin turns out to be right, and both Juliet and Mason return and are reunited with their respective other halves. By this time all three Russos are aware that Max is approaching his sixteenth birthday, and each of them is working hard to make sure that they will win the wizard competition. For some reason, even after Justin and Alex mess up by misguidedly trying to reveal wizards' existence and are demoted to two levels behind Max in the run-up to the wizard competition, Max remains convinced that one of them will still end up winning the competition. And it is Max who manages to persuade Alex to reconsider her decision to quit the wizard competition.

"I'm two levels behind you, Max," Alex reminds him.

"So what?" Max asks. "That doesn't matter. You could easily catch up."

"How? There's not enough time."

"You're Alex," Max tells her simply. "You'll think of something."

"But what's the point?" asks Alex. "Justin will win. He's teaching his delinquent class – and that will get him back in the competition. Even if I get back in, I'll probably lose to him."

"Nah." Max disregards that. "You so totally can win this, Alex. You're a great wizard."

At this, she looks at him strangely. "Why are you telling me all this? Don't you want to win the competition?"

"Actually, I don't think I do," Max admits.

Despite Alex's demands for him to explain, he does not tell her that he has no clue why the idea of becoming a full wizard gives him so much apprehension.

* * *

The day of the wizard competition finally arrives, and after making it through Rounds 1 and 2, the Russo sibling are told that for the final Round 3, the first one out of the maze will become the family wizard. At this, they all glance at each other, feeling a weird sense of déjà vu, as if they have lived through this before. However, there is no time to dwell on that, as the next minute they are racing into the labyrinth to find the exit.

In the final lap, Justin sees Alex running ahead of him, just a few yards away from the exit through the Tunnel of Mist. As he sprints desperately to catch up with her, his foot gets caught in a bunch of roots, and as he struggles to get free, he sees Alex pause just before the exit. She turns back to look at him, and he knows – somehow, he just _knows _– that she will not cross the tunnel, that she will backtrack to help him. And when she does, he is both touched and frustrated, because it's so beautifully selfless of his little sister, but dammit, this is a competition and they are opponents and she isn't supposed to give up her win to help him.

But she does, and then Max catches up, and they are at the same point in the race – and there is that overwhelming sense of déjà vu once again. The next instant, it is gone as they all sprint for the exit.

Though Justin makes it out first, he already knows that this victory belongs to Alex, and it should be Alex who becomes the family wizard. Somewhere in his mind, he knows that he will not let Professor Crumbs proclaim him the family wizard, and sure enough, he cannot bear to go through with it, and gives the reward to Alex instead.

While Crumbs makes Alex the family wizard, Max whispers conspiratorially to his brother, "I bet he's still going to make you a full wizard somehow. You deserve it."

"That's ridiculous, Max," Justin responds. "He can't – it'd be breaking the rules."

And yet that's exactly what Professor Crumbs does, and Justin is both overjoyed by his new position as WizTech Headmaster and thoroughly amazed by how Max knew what was coming.

After Max professes his happiness at having the Sub Station bequeathed to him, Alex remarks, "Hey, look – we're all happy –"

"– at the same time," Justin and Max finish. Alex is surprised that they knew exactly what she was going to say, and after a moment of staring at each other in bewilderment at their uncanny mind-reading, they laugh.

* * *

Alex knows she should be more mature and responsible about her powers, but it's hard for a leopard to change its spots. So it doesn't come as a complete surprise when Jerry and Theresa start reprimanding her for using her magic frivolously. She does try to curb her selfish impulses, especially where Mason is concerned – but it stings when she feels that her parents are still constantly comparing her to Justin.

When a wizard named Dominic Fitzgerald turns up claiming to be one of Justin's colleagues, Alex doesn't trust him for a minute, and though she's tempted by his suggestion to cast a spell to remove the bad parts of her personality, she decides it's not a good idea to have two versions of herself running around. She later confides this to Harper and Max overhears; for once not as oblivious as he normally is, her younger brother comforts her and sticks up for her the next time their parents chide her for being immature.

"Don't be so hard on her," Max says to them, standing by his sister. "She's trying."

"She has to do better," says Jerry – he looks somewhat surprised that Max is defending Alex.

"And she will," Max assures him. "But what were you like when you were her age?"

Jerry blinks, silent for a while until Max prods him. "I was just as bad," he admits. "I'm sorry, Alex."

"Me too, _mija_," Theresa puts in. "Your father and I just want you to learn to be responsible, that's all."

"I'll work on it," Alex promises, with a grateful smile at Max.

* * *

Justin is introduced to Dominic Fitzgerald while taking his first tour of WizTech as its new Headmaster. Dominic is cordial and respectful, but Justin instantly dislikes him. In his opinion, Dominic is too smooth, too friendly, and too sycophantic to be genuine. He instructs the other teachers to keep a close eye on Dominic, and a few months later (in fact, very soon after he tried to trick Alex), Professor Malony catches Dominic plotting to take over the world. Dominic is fired and arrested by the Wizard Council, and Justin finds himself glad that he trusted his instincts. When he learns what Dominic tried to get Alex to do, his feeling of relief intensifies.

* * *

After reading up on wizarding history, Justin wonders if it might be a good idea to reach out to magical creatures to assure them of their place in the wizarding world in order to ensure that wizard-creature interaction remains cordial. When Juliet informs him that her parents are talking about a vampire revolution, he immediately approaches the Wizard Council and recommends that they improve relations with the vampire, werewolf, mummy, and other assorted magic communities as soon as possible. The Council accepts his advice and emissaries are sent to each community of magical creatures.

The next time Juliet sees him, she reports gladly that her parents are no longer entertaining the idea of a revolution.

* * *

And so the years pass, from 2009 to 2019, as the Russos live their lives, unaware that in the process they will make or break their future.

_**A/N: Final chapter tomorrow! (More of an epilogue, really, but still...)**_


	11. And Here We Are Again

_**A/N: And so, here is the final chapter. One of my reviewers advised me not to rush my story - very good advice indeed, but for this particular fic I felt it best to quickly touch on only certain key points in the Russos' new continuity, because if I were to pull that into a lengthier development it could get tiresome, since the large majority of the plot would have proceeded as was shown in the TV series itself. **_

_**Another reviewer wondered how I could write so fast. Answer: I don't. My policy is to finish writing the story before I begin posting it. That's why you get daily updates without fail, unless I happen to be without wifi.**_

_**So, thanks to reviewers **Kaycie232, Guest, **and **Guest **(next time d'you think you** **could use a pen name? It would be much nicer if I could name you individually for thanks). And enjoy the epilogue.**  
_

* * *

**Epilogue  
And Here We Are Again**

The year 2019 saw the entire Russo family reunited for the first time since Alex married Mason in 2014 (Justin had married Juliet the year before, in 2013). Max was newly engaged to his girlfriend of four years, Alison LaRue – a sweet, pretty mortal several months older than he was with curly dark hair, soulful brown eyes, and olive-toned skin – and Theresa had decided to throw a small celebration party that also served the major secondary purpose of bringing her children back under the same roof once more.

Justin, now 28, was expecting his second child with Juliet, who was due in February next year. The couple had a small house near a blood bank in the Bronx, and Juliet regularly (but carefully) raided said bank's stores for the delicious red plasma. To Justin's chagrin, their 3-year-old son, Terry, was developing a liking for the blood his mother kept feeding him, but Justin was determined to limit his blood consumption and to teach his son to at least appreciate eating normal human food. Terry was currently running rampant around the loft, causing Jerry several near heart attacks as he upset dishes, banged doors, and raced up and down the stairs. The young Headmaster of WizTech finally resorted to using magic to create sparkles to keep his hyperactive son entertained, if only to spare Terry's grandfather more panic.

The pregnant Juliet was helping Theresa in the kitchen, while Alex set the table. The 26-year-old Russo family wizard had completed university, earning a degree in art, and had opened her own art gallery in Brooklyn two years ago, which she now managed with Mason. It was a fledgling business that did not generate much income as of yet, but Alex's pieces were beautiful and noteworthy, and acclaim of her work had begun to spread around New York. Alex herself had matured a great deal, but the irrepressible mischief in her personality was still present, and she would often use magic to make her life easier (though she maintained a strict no-magic policy when it came to her art, as she wanted her work to be acclaimed for its own merit). Tonight she was smiling and radiant, her hand unconsciously stroking her still-flat tummy as she thought of the announcement she would make later on at dinner.

The youngest Russo was sitting on the couch, holding his fiancée's hand and chatting animatedly with Mason. Max, at 23, was now the legal owner of the Waverly Sub Station, as Jerry and Theresa had transferred the majority of the managerial and executive duties to their youngest son earlier this year, though they still worked shifts in the shop. Since the Russo family residence was above the Sub Station, Alison would move in with Max and his parents once she married Max. As for Max, he was living in bliss, happily in love, working a job he adored, and totally content with his life at Waverly Place. He didn't miss magic at all, and felt no deprivation whatsoever about being the only one out of the trio not to have kept his powers.

When dinner was ready, they all crowded around the dining table, which Alex had casually charmed to defy all known dimensional rules in order for it to fit everyone while still taking up the same amount of space in the loft. Justin and Juliet wrestled a complaining Terry into a high chair Justin had conjured up; Alex sat beside Justin and Mason sat next to her. Max was seated between Theresa and Alison.

It was a very pleasant meal, punctuated by easy conversation, amusing anecdotes of each other's lives, and typical random comments from Max. Towards the end, the little party became a celebration of more than Max and Alison's engagement; Jerry opened a bottle of wine and stared at Alex's stomach as if he could see the baby growing there, and Theresa burst into exuberant tears at the thought of getting her third grandchild.

As the night wound down, the three Russo siblings, each armed with a glass of wine, made their way up to the balcony to have their own personal time together while their parents and their significant others remained downstairs.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, until Max broke the pause.

"So…" he said slowly. "Am I the only one, or do you guys remember it too?"

"You're not the only one," Justin confirmed.

"Nope," Alex concurred.

The realization had been dawning on them all night – not as a sudden, flooding onslaught of memories, but as a gradual understanding that crept up on them slowly until they remembered it all – and it had happened in such a way that the memories seemed as though they had always been there.

"We did it," Alex said.

Justin smiled widely. "Yes, we did." He hugged his sister close and heaved a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding for the last ten years. Max, too, joined in the hug, tightening his arms around Alex with joy.

They were safe. After all the anxiety and uncertainty they had gone through ten years ago in the future – how strange that sounded! – they had emerged on the other side of the loophole unscathed, safe in a new continuity where Alex was alive and there was no war and they were all happy.

When they finally pulled apart, Max remarked, "It feels a little surreal, you know?"

"Yeah," Justin agreed, "but in a good way." He glanced fondly at Alex, who winked at him, beaming, before she raised her glass.

"Here's to us," she said. "It's been a good ten years, and we made it together. Thanks for saving my life, you guys."

"The three of us, together, as always," Justin added, raising his glass to meet hers.

"I guess we proved ourselves right," said Max as he joined the toast. At his siblings' puzzled expressions, he explained, "When the three of us make up our minds about something, there's nothing we can't do."

They laughed, and knocked their glasses together. The gentle clink was the perfect end note to their successful quest to secure their future, and it set a promising tone for their new continuity.

* * *

_**A/N: Hooray for happy endings! And hooray for the completion of my 37th story on fanfiction! And thank you to everyone who reviewed, subscribed or favorited, or just read and enjoyed! **_

_**Bye bye!**_


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